LITMIR.BIZ

      Chapter 3

      Savitri – A Revelation

      On the 18th January 1960, when a young disciple met the Mother for a personal interview, she said to him: “I shall give you something special; be prepared.” The next day, when he again met her, she spoke in French first about how to kindle the psychic Flame and then in this connection started speaking about Sri Aurobindo’s great epic Savitri and continued to speak at length.

      The disciple, after returning from the Mother, wanted to note down immediately what She had said, but he could not do so because he felt a great hesitation due to his sense of incapacity to transcribe exactly the Mother’s own words. After nearly seven years, however, he felt a strong urge to note down what the Mother had spoken; so in 1967 he wrote down from memory a report in French. The report was seen by the Mother and a few corrections were made by her. To another disciple who asked her permission to read this report, she wrote: Years ago I have spoken at length about Savitri to Mona Sarkar and he has noted in French what I said. Some time back I have seen what he has written and found it correct on the whole. (4 December 1967)

      On a few other occasion also, the Mother had spoken to the same disciple on the value of reading Savitri which he had noted down afterwards. These notes have been added at the end of the main report.

      A few members of the Ashram had privately read this report in French, but afterwards there were many requests for its English version. A translation was therefore made in November 1967. A proposal was made to the Mother in 1972 for its publication and it was submitted to her for approval. The Mother wanted to check the translation before permitting its publication but could check only a portion of it.

      In view of the great value of what the Mother had said about Savitri and also because of the increasing demand for the English version, it is now being published in this here. This is a report written from memory but is amazingly distinct and vivid. We should be multiply thankful to Mona Sarkar for giving it to us all. The Mother says the direct road to Savitri is by ‘the heart’.

      Words of the Mother

      Do you read Savitri?

      Yes, Mother.

      You have read the whole of it?

      Yes, Mother, I have read it twice.

      Have you understood all that you have read?

      Not much, but I like poetry, that is why I read it.

      It does not matter if you do not understand Savitri, read it always. You will see that every time you read it, something new will be revealed to you. Each time you will get a new glimpse, each time a new experience; things which were not there, things you did not understand arise and suddenly become clear. Always an unexpected vision comes up through the words and the lines. Every time you try to read and understand, you will see that something is added, something which was hidden behind is revealed clearly and vividly. I tell you, the very verses you have read once before, will appear to you in a different light each time you re-read them. This is what happens invariably. Always your experience is enriched, it is a revelation at each step.

      But you must not read it as you read other books or newspapers. You must read with an empty head, a blank and vacant mind, without there being any other thought; you must concentrate much, remain empty, calm and open; then the words, the rhythms, the vibrations will penetrate directly to this white page, will put their stamp upon the brain, will explain themselves without your making an effort.

      Savitri alone is sufficient to make you climb to the highest peaks. If truly one knows how to meditate on Savitri, one will receive all the help one needs. For one who wishes to follow this path, it is a visible help, as though the Lord himself were taking you by the hand and leading you to the destined goal. And then, every question, however personal it may be, has its answer here, every difficulty finds here its solution, indeed there is everything that is necessary for doing the Yoga.

      He has crammed the whole universe in a single book. It is a marvellous work, magnificent and of an incomparable perfection.

      You know, before writing Savitri Sri Aurobindo said to me “I am impelled to launch on a new adventure; I was hesitant in the beginning, but now I am decided. Still I do not know how far I shall succeed. I pray for help.” And you know what it was? It was – before beginning, I warn you in advance – it was his way of speaking, so full of humility and divine modesty. He never... asserted himself. And the day he actually began it, he told me: “I have launched myself in a rudderless boat upon the vastness of the Infinite.” And once having started, he wrote page after page without intermission, as though it were a thing already complete up there and he had only to transcribe it in ink down here on these pages.

      In truth, the entire form of Savitri has descended “en masse” from the highest region and Sri Aurobindo with his genius only arranged the lines – in a superb and magnificent style. Sometimes entire lines were revealed and he has left them intact; he worked hard, untiringly, so that the inspiration could come from the highest possible summit. And what a work he has created! Yes, it is a true creation in itself. It is an unequalled work. Everything is there, and it is put in such a simple, such a clear form; verses perfectly harmonious, limpid and eternally true. My child, I have read so many things, but I have never come across anything which could be compared with Savitri. I have studied the best works – in Greek, Latin, English and of course in French literature, also in German and all the great creations of the West and the East, including the great epics; but I repeat it, I have not found anywhere anything like Savitri. All these literary works seem to me empty, flat, hollow, without any deep reality – apart from a few rare exceptions, and these too represent only a small fraction of what Savitri is. What grandeur, what amplitude, what reality: it is something immortal and eternal he has created. I tell you once again, there is nothing like it in the whole world. Even if one puts aside the vision of the reality, that is, the essential substance which is the heart of the inspiration, and considers only the lines in themselves, one will find them unique, of the highest classical kind. What he has created is something man cannot imagine. For, everything is there, everything.

      It may then be said that Savitri is a revelation,

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